


Shades of Red

by Buried_in_CharCOL



Series: Visible Spectrum [2]
Category: Carmen Sandiego (Cartoon 2019)
Genre: (not everyone but you know what i mean), ? - Freeform, All the age differences between carmen, BAMF Carmen Sandiego, Character Study, Everyone is in love with Carmen, F/F, F/M, I'll add ships and relationships as I go, My red baby deserves the world and I would steal it for her, Pining for you Pining for you Everyone is Pining, Platonic or Romanic IDK, and anyone whose relationship with her, because we dont do creepy age differences in this house, could even remotely be seen as romantic, everyone is a BAMF, i ship everything and everything, im gonna add more i just can't remember them all right now, is at most two years, its 2 am why am i here, its a bold strategy cotton lets see if it pays off for em, maybe thats not a good thing but they didn't give me a lot to work with here, no beta we die like men, playing fast and loose with timelines and ages, references bc i am Weak, sorry for this garbage fire, there was an attempt at good writing, we're gonna cover all the ships in this bitch, we're just getting started
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-01-27
Updated: 2019-01-27
Packaged: 2019-10-17 12:14:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,932
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17560196
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Buried_in_CharCOL/pseuds/Buried_in_CharCOL
Summary: Carmen Sandiego never knew a time when she wasn’t shades of black, grey, or red because she never had a choice.V.I.L.E. tried to paint her black as sin, but they'll just have to settle on watching her burn as bright and as hot as the embers of a phoenix reborn.(Because that's what she is, isn't she?)Cherry.Crimson.Scarlet.Rose.Have you ever noticed how the different the shades of red are?





	1. Black and White

**Author's Note:**

> Player and Black Sheep
> 
> Please read tags :)

Carmen Sandiego never knew a time when she wasn’t shades of black, grey, or red because she never had a choice.

Most children start out as pure white and change into a vibrant, beautiful rainbow of colors like pastel pinks, sky blues, and neon greens. They have the chance and opportunity to change through the decisions they make and the experiences in their lives.

But she didn’t have the most _traditional_ upbringing so she would have to deal with the cards she was dealt with. VILE tried to make her black as coal, but they’ll just have to settle on watching how exquisitely she **_burns_**.

 

And he'll always be there to make sure her fire keeps blazing - the wick to her flame.

* * *

 

That's how it all starts isn't it? It begins and ends with him and her.

* * *

 

He was fourteen on the day their paths crossed - a child prodigy able to crack the toughest coding. The boy had already been an ethical hacker for a while to make some extra pocket money.

(His "pocket money" was more than what most adults made in a month of their nine to five jobs.)

To him, twenty-seven layers of encription was practically an invitation to be hacked. Nothing new or important - just another puzzle to solve.

He was expecting an annoyed business man perhaps or a tired regional manager. At most, a soulless corporate executive that would threaten to sue.

The girl was a surprise. 

The first time he heard her voice was a happy accident, but it was an accident that would change the direction of their lives forever. 

She sounded hesitant, almost naive. Judging from her voice, he guesses that she was about his age. The first thought that came to mind was that maybe she was some sheltered, homeschooled kid.  ~~Like him.~~

She said her name was Black Sheep so he decided to roll with the punches and play along. He told her to call him Player. (Clever, no?)

Black Sheep was interesting in a way that only coding and tech had intrigued him before. She asked questions that most people just didn't ask (who asks what Ontario is like?), but at the same time she engaged him in a way that showed him that she wasn't stupid... maybe she was just _really_ sheltered.

* * *

 

They talked everyday for the longest time. Maybe she would call at odd hours like 3 AM or he would call at 10 PM, but the one who received the call would always, _always_ pick up.

He decided to keep in contact with her and he began to know more about Black Sheep than he knew about anyone else. The more they talked, the more he learned, the more he began to get attached.

In his head, he kept a detailed list of everything he knew about her.  ~~He remembers that list even now; not a single thing is forgotten.~~ ~~~~

She was sixteen when they first "met", her favorite color was red, she lived in a school, she spoke about five languages or more, she had a passion for foreign lands and their cultures, her favorite food was cupcakes, and her favorite mom (she had multiple moms) was called Coach Brunt.

He didn't know if Coach was her first name or what, but he thought that it was pretty neat that she had multiple moms and dads. 

However, besides the detail about her guardians she was oddly cagey about all the other specifics of her life. When he asked what school she lived in she refused to answer and when he asked what her parents did for a living he was met with tense silence.

Eventually he stopped asking. Black Sheep would tell him more about herself when she was ready - he valued her "company" too much to damage their relationship over some insignificant details. 

* * *

The day she called screaming to him that she got accepted early into the trade school she dreamed about he stayed up from 2 AM to 7 AM listening to her chatter happily about her orientation. He can practically hear her smiling over the phone and not for the first time he wishes he could be there in person. Her excitement is infectious.

They talk about anything and everything under the sun. He tells her about his latest hacking jobs and and she tells him about the new fighting techniques she learned from her classes. She goes to a pretty weird school.

Her odd subjects don't bother him in the least though. It's her new friends.

 


	2. tamahagane steel 玉鋼:たまはがね and a cherry blossom bud  桜のつぼみ

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The cold glint of Shadow-san's katana has ended the lives of many innocents all for the advancement of the crime syndicate... but this is too much even for a dishonorable old monster like him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sticking in a Shadow-san chapter between the Player chapters because I'm the author and I do what I want
> 
> GUESS WHO FINISHED THE SEASON YALL GETTING A SHADOW-SAN CHAPTER  
> WHO KNOWS MAYBE ILL MAKE A SPINOFF OF JUST A WHAT-IF SHADOW-SAN RAN OFF WITH A BABY CARMEN AND RAISED HER LIKE A PROPER DAD WHO KNOWS
> 
> I really just headcanoned my way through this one cause we don't have any canon details on carmen's real family so it's a free-for-all

It was just another job, another slaughter to tie up loose ends.

Joaquín Mondragon, the Argentinian drug lord, along with his spouses Maria Posada and Manolo Sánchez had tried to turn over a new leaf and escape their life of crime for unknown reasons. However, in doing so they forgot their long-standing relationship with V.I.L.E.

That was their big mistake.

It took just under a year for Shadow-san to find their new hideout.

It took him just under an hour to take care of the situation.

* * *

 

It was in the early evening when he arrived at the site.

The mansion was hidden deep in the forests so he knew that he wouldn't have to worry about any interference.

Where their old home was white walls, wide panes of glass, and blue-watered infinity pools, their new home was more fortified with stone walls, security lights, and guard dogs. It wouldn't make a difference to him either way.

He took care of the guard dogs.

The first of the trio he encountered was Mondragon; Shadow-san supposed that taking out the toughest one first would make the job easier overall. The large, muscular man wielded a sword of his own (no doubt a family heirloom). They battled in the living area of the home; destroying furniture and shattering decorative pieces. Despite his built stature he moved with a speed and precision that only seasoned fighters possessed. It was a shame, the samurai mused, that this man was facing off against him. If they had sent some Cleaners to take care of the matter perhaps the trio would have gotten away.

But we all know that wasn't how the battle ended.

We all know who won in the end.

He vaguely registered the faint smell of burning milk wafting from the kitchen.

He turned off the stove.

ゆりかごのうたを  
カナリヤが歌うよ  
ねんねこねんねこ  
ねんねこよ

* * *

The second man, Manolo, put up a valiant effort. Unfortunately to was clear to see that he was a lover and not a fighter.

Shadow-san took care of him and suddenly there was only one left to go.

Absently wiping the blood off his blade, the samurai tripped over a small wooden doll as he ascended up the steps of the house.

The object gave him pause, but he knew that the trio did not have any children.

The intel of V.I.L.E. was never wrong.

He kicked away the toy.

ゆりかごのうえに  
枇杷の実が揺れるよ  
ねんねこ ねんねこ  
ねんねこよ

* * *

Maria must have known the fate of her partners when he met her on the third floor. The lithe woman's face was twisted in grief and rage as she gripped the handles of her blades. She looked disheveled - her nightgown sitting askew on her heaving shoulders, auburn hair sitting in a messy bun, and tears streaming down her face.

Shadow-san was surprised by her skill; she moved with the ferocity and anger of a lioness. His tamahagane blade flashed through the air just keeping up with the swipes and slashes of her dual-wielding. The samurai was wrong in assuming that Mondragon was the warrior of the three - that title was clearly held by Posada.

Perhaps she would have been a valuable operative for V.I.L.E. had she and her partners not been dishonorable enough to abandon their ties to the crime organization.

Their battle stayed neck and neck for the longest time, and the samurai himself had few moments of doubt on who would leave the house alive.

But all of a sudden there was a shrill noise that echoed from the door that Maria stood with her back against and woman lost her focus for a split-second.

A split-second was all Shadow-san needed to end the fight quickly as he drove his blade through Posada's chest and through the wood of the door.

ゆりかごのつなを  
木ねずみが揺するよ  
ねんねこねんねこ  
ねんねこよ

* * *

The silence of the house was deafening.

* * *

As he retracted the blade from his latest victim, the deathly quiet of the mansion was shattered by a cry.

The samurai's cold heart dropped when he recognized the sobs of an infant.

He slowly swung open the door that Maria had guarded with her life hoping against hope that it was some trick of his guilt-ridden ageing mind.

His worst fears were confirmed when he was met with watery eyes of a wailing baby girl in her crib. She looked up at him with intelligent stormy grey eyes - they gave him an accusatory look as if she knew each and every one of his innumerable sins.

Shadow-san knew what he had to do. He slowly raised the samurai sword - still dripping with her mother's blood - just above the child's head. No witnesses and no loose ends.

It would be a quick and painless task.

ゆ りかごのゆめに  
黄色い月がかかるよ  
ねんねこねんねこ  
ねんねこよ

* * *

The weeping suddenly stopped as fat little fingers wrapped themselves around the end of the shaking blade.

_Drip_

_Drip_

_Drip_

Posada's blood dribbled onto the child's face and Shadow-san's tears soon followed.

As they mixed, the diluted crimson liquid became a light pink color and the samurai likened the shape of the drops to that of the sakura's petals.

He couldn't do it.

He wouldn't do it.

Although the cold glint of his tamahagane blade had snuffed out the light of many innocents, this was one line that he would not be able to cross.

This was one deed too horrible even for an old monster such as himself.

* * *

His mind made up, he threw aside his sword and then bent over the crib as he scooped up the child - careful to support her head.

The Cleaners would pick up his blade later when they got rid of the scene, but for now all he worried about was the little girl in his arms.

"ごめんなさい、さくらさん。" Regret tinged his voice. He knew the rest of this child's life would be forever tainted because of him.

It was quite a sight: the hardened murderer and thief covered in blood as he gently bounced a tiny bundle in his arms. Shadow-san whispered old Japanese lullabies from his childhood into the baby's ear to keep her from fussing.

As they left the mansion, he bent over and picked up a worn out Russian nesting doll that had been knocked over during his fight with Mondragon. He tucked the bauble into his robes.

Once they reached the threshold of the house, they vanished into the night.

 

 

 

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> YALL I STAN SAMURAI DAD CAN WE GIVE HIM A JAPANESE FANON NAME?
> 
> The lullaby is ゆりかごのうた or Yurikago no Uta

**Author's Note:**

> Welcome to "My Attempt at Satiating My New Hyperfixation". 
> 
> Imagine my surprise when my thirsty shipper ho ass saw there were like a handful of fics to binge on. Be the change you want to see in the world I guess.
> 
> This is like the second thing I've ever written so I'm sorry.  
> T_T
> 
> I'm not done with Player and Carmen yet so there next chap is gonna cover them before I move onto Grey, Sheena, Ivy and Zack, and you best believe I'm gonna throw in some lil drabbles of VILE parents because you can't just raise a lil bean like her and not get attached even if you're international criminals.
> 
> P.S.  
> Ya'll best fucking believe I'm gonna throw in a chapter for Detective Chase FrenchDumbass because he's just asking for a one-sided drabble
> 
> Come visit me on my tumblr blue-bronzescarf if you wanna scream about Carmen Sandiego


End file.
